The Morgue Who: Micah and Claire When: Early evening Where: The hospital
As Claire stepped into the hospital, she did her best to ignore the nausea rising, not wanting to throw up all over the place when there was obviously so much going on. She had gotten the message from some woman who worked there to come by as soon as possible only twenty minutes before, and honestly, Claire couldn’t really remember putting her shoes on and getting out the door. Having not heard from Ren, Claire was worried her friend was hurt, given the pack of wolves that had torn through the dome the night before.
She asked for Dr. Worthington, the contact name given to her when the woman called and then waited in the hall, tugging anxiously on her sleeve. She sort of wish she had called Gabe to meet her there, but there was a chance Ren wouldn’t want to see him just yet. If it was Ren. Claire didn’t know. She hadn’t gotten any details over the phone. Was that a bad sign?
Swallowing hard again, Claire felt a ball of panic starting to form in her stomach, and she began to pace nervously, sort of wishing she had asked for Thessaly instead. Gabe’s mom would have called if something really bad had happened. If Thessaly even knew. Claire didn’t know the inner workings of a hospital. All she knew was she wanted to get this over with as soon as possible so she could get rid of this sick feeling in her gut.
Micah was flagged down by a nurse coming out of a patient’s room, frowning as the woman pointed down the hall to the young girl. “She’s a child,” he said, but only got a shrug and was left staring at the girl, Claire she’d said, for a moment before heading towards her.
“Claire?” he asked once he was close, ducking his head to meet her eyes and trying to seem as harmless as possible. He didn’t want to do this with a kid. That was just harsh. “Are you alone?”
Claire was just about to the point of wanting to bite her fingernails apart, but then Micah was approaching her, and she lowered her hands, offering a faint smile. Although it didn't last long when he asked if she was alone. "I am." Although right then she wished she wasn't. And it was probably too late to call Gabe. "Is everything okay?"
He ran his hand through his hair and looked at her. “No,” he said softly. “Come with me,” he said starting down the hall, holding out a hand to guide her the right way.
Claire almost didn't go. Because if she walked with him, then he was going to give her horrible news, and she didn't want to hear it. If she stayed where she was, everything would continue being okay. But her feet began to move before her brain could catch up, and Claire followed Micah, concern etched in her face. "Is Thessaly okay? I mean... Dr. Bloom?" Maybe that was why Gabe's mom hadn't been the one to call. God, what if she was hurt? But if that had been the case, they wouldn't have called her, they would have called Gabe, instead. It just didn't make any sense. Neither did the thoughts rushing through her head, but Claire couldn't seem to slow them down long enough to really stop and figure this out.
“Thessaly...Yes of course. She’s fine. We’re working alternating shifts at the moment to make sure the hospital is covered,” he explained. “She got in around sun up and should be headed home before it gets dark. The other girl, the one they were headed to see, hadn’t made it through the ambulance ride. She was already downstairs, which meant Micah was leading Claire that way, towards the morgue.
Well, that made sense. Gabe's mom was always working, it seemed, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Especially lately. Claire continued to follow Micah, not really paying attention to where they were going. She hadn't asked about Ren yet. Maybe she was afraid to. But maybe she was building this up to be worse than it was. Ren had a habit of getting herself hurt, and not like Claire usually did with her clumsiness, but on purpose. It wouldn't have surprised Claire at all to walk into a room and find her friend with her arm or leg in a cast or something. "Where are we going?" she asked a bit belatedly, confusion finally settling on her features.
Micah hesitated outside of door, watching the girl and wishing he didn’t have to do this. “They found a girl who they think is your roommate. You’ve been called down to tell us if we’re right,” Micah explained plainly, voice patient, understanding.
Claire had always been an intelligent girl. She loved learning, she read a lot and got good grades. But at that moment, she stared dumbly at Micah, not quite comprehending what he was implying. "Ren? She could tell you... is she okay?" Jesus, what if she was in a coma? Or unconscious. Claire paled considerably as another thought began to sink in. One with a much more final conclusion. "It isn't her," Claire said before Micah could open the door. "She's at a friend's house." Of course, that was a couple days ago. Claire had no idea where Ren was now, but she wasn't in there.
Micah shook his head slowly, pushing the door open until she said it wasn’t her friend. “Have you seen her today?” he asked. If he could avoid putting this girl through this he would.
"No." Claire licked her lips nervously and felt the nausea rising all over again. "I haven't... we had a fight, and she was staying somewhere else for awhile. But..." She shook her head and tried to think of a logical argument that would convince Micah that Ren wasn't in that room. Of course, the only thing she could think of would be to look at the body, just to prove that it wasn't her. Her breath was shaky as she exhaled. "But, I'll look..."
He watched her for a long moment. “You don’t have to. We can find someone else.” But who wasn’t familiar with death at this point? Who hadn’t seen it left and right, watched people they loved die?
She shook her head, more determined now to prove he was wrong about Ren. "I can do it. It's okay..." Yes, Claire had seen death, but it didn't get easier when faced with it again. All she could do was convince herself Ren was fine and whoever had found this person had made a mistake.
Micah waited a breath more then let them into the morgue. The attendant there looked up nodding towards the right slab. They were ready for this. He went to the body, waiting a moment before pulling down the sheet to reveal the face. The rest was mauled, not something Claire needed to see.
Claire didn't know when she realized she wasn't breathing. It was probably when her lungs began to burn and she released a sudden rush of oxygen, feeling faint and incredibly sick to her stomach. Ren had scratches on her face, but other than that, she looked like she was sleeping. But she wasn't. Eyes wide and starting to fill, Claire stared at her friend's face, knowing she ought to say something but nothing coherent came to mind. This wasn't really happening.
That was enough. Micah put the sheet back and moved around to her, one hand on her elbow. He could see the tears, that was obvious. “Come on. This way,” he said steering her towards the door.
She barely heard Micah, still staring at Ren as if she would open her eyes and laugh at the stupidly inappropriate prank she had just pulled. Then she felt him leading her away and Claire nearly yanked her arm away, not ready to leave yet, just in case there had been mistake. Rationally, Claire knew this wasn't a joke, but it didn't feel real. "What happened?" Her voice held panic and grief and she looked away from Ren to Micah. "What happened to her?"
“Wolves have been attacking people all over the town. Your friend...the same thing happened to her as well.” Micah looked at her, hating to deliver that information. “Do you have someone who can come get you? If not, I’d rather you stay here. It’s safer here. At least for the night.”
Feeling faint, Claire moved to lean against the wall. Ren was dead? Dead. It was like she was dreaming and couldn't wake up. She did her best to pull air into her lungs to keep from hyperventilating. Micah didn't need Claire having a panic attack in front of him and she needed to try and stay calm. Falling apart wasn't going to help anything. "I can't stay here," she managed. "I don't live far... I need..." God, she was going to have to tell Gabe. Ren was dead. Claire could feel her chest tighten as she looked at Micah. "I'll be okay."
Micah was fine with a panic attack. He took Claire’s weight away from the wall, guiding her out of the room. “You won’t. It’s dangerous out there. If it’s already dark, I don’t want you going. Just breathe, in through your nose, out through your mouth.”
"No, I can't stay," Claire said again, but she let Micah lead her out of the room as she focused on breathing in. "I'll have someone come get me... I just... our friend, Gabe...I need to tell him." At some point, Claire realized she was shaking and she slowed her steps. "I need to sit down. Please." Later, she would feel bad for holding him up, for making him deal with her unraveling, but at that moment, Claire couldn't think about anything but Ren's lifeless face.
Micah found her a chair, putting it under her and guiding her down to sit. “I know you do. Take a minute. Then you can. Breathe slowly.”
Claire sat immediately and leaned forward, her arms resting on her knees as her eyes closed. It felt like it was years ago, and she was finding her mom’s body in the midst of zombies and chaos. It had felt like a dream back then too. Or a nightmare, even. Then she had met Thessaly, and Gabe and Ren and they had survived years outside of the dome. This place was supposed to be safe, and just like that, some animal had done what zombies and the elements couldn’t? It didn’t seem fair. Choking out a sob, Claire covered her face quickly so Micah wouldn’t have to see.
Micah was down on one knee, watching her with a doctor's eye, but sob was unavoidable. "I'm sorry," he told her softly, touching the top of her head, being reassuring. "It's never easy. No matter what you see."
She had no idea how long she sat there. It had to have only been a minute or two, although it felt like an eternity. Her hands were wet from tears when she finally lowered them from her face, and Claire realized she needed to pull herself together. At least long enough to get home and talk to Gabe. She couldn't think about how her house would be empty now. And Ren's room still full of her things. For a second, Claire thought she might be sick, right there in the hallway, but she managed to keep from throwing up. At least in front of the doctor. "I'm okay," she whispered hoarsely, wiping impatiently at her eyes. "I'm okay. When... what's going to happen to her?" Claire had no idea what to do from there. Maybe Thessaly would take care of it, she didn't know.
He could see her go green for a moment but beyond giving himself a tiny bit of more space to avoid dirtying yet another pair of scrubs, but that was it. "Let me talk it over with Dr. Bloom," he told the girl, since she seemed to have some relation to his coworker. "We will sort it out and then move from there. For now, just focus on one foot in front of the other. And if you're going out there, you need to go soon. But your doctor is against it."
She nodded, appreciative that he would talk to Thessaly for her. All she really wanted to do was go find Gabe and hold onto him for awhile. "I'll be okay," she whispered again before carefully getting to her feet. Her knees felt like jelly, but Claire knew she would make it home all right. She didn't want to stay in the hospital any longer anyway, not knowing Ren was in the morgue. Breathing in deeply to try and ease the tremors in her body, Claire glanced at Micah, managing to give him a very faint, brief smile of thanks before she started off down the hall.
Micah watched her go, pulling out his phone to message Thessaly to be on teh lookout for her and what she'd gone through. Hopefully the other doctor could help more than he had.